John Edwards is on the right track - the system is broken and it's up to us to fix it

from his "corporate democrats" speech, via alternet...

Real change starts with being honest -- the system in Washington is rigged and our government is broken. It's rigged by greedy corporate powers to protect corporate profits. It's rigged by the very wealthy to ensure they become even wealthier. At the end of the day, it's rigged by all those who benefit from the established order of things. For them, more of the same means more money and more power. They'll do anything they can to keep things just the way they are -- not for the country, but for themselves.

[...]

You cannot deal with them on their terms. You cannot play by their rules, sit at their table, or give them a seat at yours. They will not give up their power -- you have to take it from them.

and there needs to be one HELL of a lot more emphasis on the following...

[I]t's time for the American people to take responsibility for our government -- for in our democracy it is truly ours. If we have come to mistrust and question it, it is because we were not vigilant against the forces that have taken it from us.

i had an online chat yesterday with an old friend... she's a reasonably intelligent person but, for reasons of small kids, a husband that loves football and hates the news, and no strong attraction to news on her part either, she only recently stumbled on all of the doubts and questions floating around out there about 9/11... she was asking me a lot of questions and i pointed her to some of the resources i've perused, and she was asking me whether or not i thought it was a conspiracy or even an inside job... i told her the same thing i say to everybody who asks that kind of question, "i believe everything and i believe nothing..." do i believe a 9/11 inside job is a possibility...? absolutely... do i believe it was...? i simply don't know...

the reason i cite the chat with my friend was my amazement that, in august 2007, someone would not have already been aware of the 9/11 conspiracy theories... but, as i thought about it, i had to admit that there are probably lots of people in her position... they get what information they have from tv news and probably don't pay all that much attention to it even then... mostly, they just go about their daily lives and, as long as their own immediate world isn't disturbed, they don't bestir themselves to become any better informed...

so, what does this have to do with john edwards...? he says that american people need to take more responsibility for our own government, that we have not been vigilant... and, imho, that is a serious understatement... it's easy to play the part of victim... indeed, there's a strong victim mentality that underlies much of our society... but we must also remember, an outlaw presidency like bushco has managed to accrue the power it has because we, the people of the united states, have given it away... it's way past time to take it back...

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